OREGON
New York Daily News
BY JOEL LANDAU
A hidden camera made to look like an electrical outlet was found in the bathroom of an Oregon church and a priest has been placed on leave for not reporting the incident for nearly a month.
The Archdiocese of Portland addressed members of the St. Francis Church in Sherwood, Ore. in a letter Thursday to explain that Fr. Ysrael Bien was placed on administrative leave, Oregon Live reported.
A camera that was designed to look like an electrical outlet was discovered in a men’s restroom in the church and reported to Bien in late April. But the clergyman did not notify police of the incident until May 20, the archdiocese said. The camera, which was attached to the wall with tape, is now missing.
“It is deeply troubling that well-established church protocols for the protection of parishioners were not followed,” the Archbishop Alexander Sample said in a statement. “Finding a hidden camera in a church restroom should have been cause for prompt and decisive action.”
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